Hard work holds key to prosperity in 2015
So soon, 2014 belongs to history and another year has dawned.
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The year 2014 may not have been the best, with regard to the realisation of resolutions that were adopted at the beginning of the year.
There is, therefore, the need to examine some practices that did not augur well for our national development and well-being.
One of such unfortunate situations was the decision by Parliament to import furniture from China, contrary to the campaign by the President for patronising made-in-Ghana goods.
Indeed, the President himself had gone to Parliament wearing locally made shoes to walk the talk about promoting locally made goods.
It was, therefore, rather bizarre that Parliament, when it decided to upgrade the chamber, had to resort to foreign imports against the national goal.
Corruption remains a major challenge within our public service, evident in the number of cases currently before the courts involving the misappropriation of public funds and issues contained in the Auditor-General’s Report.
Another issue that comes to mind is Brazil 2014 and the infamous airlifting of $3 million to that country to pay the appearance fees of the Black Stars.
Indiscipline at all levels of our society — in our homes, schools, workplaces, on the streets — the disposal of refuse and a host of other factors that degrade the environment led to the outbreak of cholera which claimed so many lives.
On the labour front, industrial harmony was disturbed by strikes in protest against certain actions of the government and employers. Although it is the legitimate right of labour unions to down their tools, they should also encourage their members to increase productivity, so that there will be more to share.
We need to increase our output in order to reap better wages and salaries. There is no magic wand to propel the development of our society, except hard work.
Moving forward, we must eschew corruption, laziness, political vindictiveness, the politicisation of issues which often leads to a good number of competent persons sitting on the fence.
If we still believe in the slogan: “One Nation, One People and One Destiny”, then we should be prepared to put partisan politics on the back burner as soon as elections are over and appoint competent people to positions of trust for the purposes of nation-building.
We keep talking about fighting corruption every day but we are not setting the right examples at both high and low levels.
Coconut, fowl, goat and mobile phone thieves are given instant justice, but white-collar thieves who rape the national purse still hold on to their positions.
They are revered in society and accorded front seats in our churches, mosques and communities.
The only way to show our commitment to fight corruption is to make sure the law bites and bites hard enough to deter others who would want to desecrate the public purse.
As a country that believes in the rule of law, we are not advocating the use of unconventional means in bringing those culpable to book, but the Attorney-General must show a commitment to deal with law breakers in society. No one is above the law.
Every year, the Auditor-General releases reports that capture acts of embezzlement of public funds, and yet not a single soul has been prosecuted. This means that the fight against corruption is far from being won.
Corruption, unfortunately, is not in the high places alone but ordinary people help to fester it.
People, out of desperation, are prepared to pay money to secure admission to schools, and recruitment into the security services, among other such organisations when they know that the people they are paying the money to are not human resource officials of those organisations.
When those who do these things are arrested, the people who paid the money to them must also be arrested and prosecuted.
The Daily Graphic thinks prospects for 2015 are good. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but only on the proviso that we work hard, uphold integrity, accountability and transparency in the use of public resources and, above all, make everybody feel a sense of belonging to Ghana.
These are the time-tested Ghanaian values that hold the key to survival and progress.